DARPA Gives Logos $19.6M for Bio Jet Fuel

Logos Technologies could see up to $35 million from the Defense Department research body to find ways to turn cellulose into military-grade jet fuel. SAIC, General Atomics and a host of other companies and universities also are researching bio jet fuel on DARPA's dime.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA – the Department of Defense research arm that helped bring us the Internet – is handing out tens of millions of dollars in a quest to bring green jet fuel to the U.S. military.

Arlington, Va.-based Logos could see its DARPA cash flow grow to $35 million if "all phases of the development program are complete," the company's press release stated. The company has 21 partners on the project, including universities and companies.

While the U.S. corn-based ethanol and biodiesel industries have been suffering over the past year (see Green Light post), startups promising "second-generation" biofuels from non-food sources raked in the VC cash – though few are expecting that flood to continue this year amidst the ongoing economic meltdown.

DARPA, for its part, is looking for jet fuel that costs less than $3 per gallon, made with processes that eventually should be able to convert half the energy content of cellulosic materials into fuel energy, according to this June information paper on its biofuels program.

Aquacultural means algae, which dozens of startups are trying to turn into fuel at prices that can compete with petroleum-derived alternatives (see Algae Biofuel Investments Explode). San Diego's General Atomics won a contract from DARPA in January with a potential value of $43 million, one aimed specifically at turning algae into a replacement for JP-8.

But DARPA's $3-per-gallon cost goal would mean "reducing the cost of algae triglyceride oil to the level of $1 to $2 per gallon," according to its June information paper – a cost that could be hard to reach (see Algae Biodiesel: It's $33 a Gallon).

Both the airlines and the Department of Defense point to energy independence and reducing carbon emissions as chief reasons to switch to biofuels.

But some analysts warn that bio jet fuel could be many years away, and others say it would be unrealistic to expect them to replace a significant portion of the airline industry's overall fuel demand (see this Green Light post).